TerminalFour receives investment of €1.4m to expand US operations

Irish technology firm TerminalFour has secured an investment of €1 million to expand its operations in the United States.

The investment was made by Investec and AIB Seed Capital Fund, which is managed by the Dublin Business Innovation Centre.

TerminalFour helps universities and colleges manage their website, social media and mobile channels and engage with students more effectively.

The company’s digital engagement and web-content management platform is used by more than 155 university and college clients to power in excess of 10,000 higher education websites throughout the world. Oxford University, UCD, Imperial College London, St Andrew’s University and Columbia University are among its clients.

TerminalFour chief executive Piero Tintori said the €1 million investment would be used to grow the company's US client base.

“We have a 50 per cent market penetration in the UK and we want to have that in the US as well. The US is by far the biggest opportunity for us. There are 4,000 universities in the US. We help universities think more about digital commerce. This is important as there is such massive competition among higher level institutions.”

The company will create 15 new positions at its Boston office over the next 18 months. The new jobs cover business development, account management, client support and training, with recruiting already taking place.

Over the past 12 months TerminalFour has grown its business significantly in North America, bringing its current number of US and Canadian higher education clients to 70.

These include the University of Florida, University of Seattle, Loyala University Chicago and Houston Community College

In October last year TerminalFour launched a new version of its software platform following an investment of €1.4 million and 18 months of research and development.

The company plans to double its client numbers to 250-300 universities and colleges worldwide by 2016. This represents more than 15,000 university websites.

The company employs approximately 60 in Dublin, as well as nine staff in Boston.